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Hormones, Pain, and Altered States: A Scientific Search for the Essence of Sadomasochism Brad Sagarin Northern Illinois University
Hormones, Pain, and Altered States: A Scientific Search for
the Essence of Sadomasochism
Brad SagarinNorthern Illinois University
Hamilton’s 1929 survey of 200 married men and women:
Men
Women
“Pleasant thrills” frominflicting pain
“Pleasant thrills” fromreceiving pain
51%
32%
28%
29%
Clinical
Criminal Consensual
Physiological and psychological effects of consensual BDSM
Hormonal changes and couple bonding in consensual sadomasochistic activity
Co-authors: Bert Cutler Nadine Cutler Kimberly Lawler-Sagarin Leslie Matuszewich
Participants and methods
13 participants: Arizona Power Exchange (APEX)
45 participants: Thunder in the Mountains
Questionnaires and saliva samples before and after scenes
Testosterone
Cortisol
Relationship closeness
Relationship closeness
Conclusions
SM activities show marked physiological and psychological effects on participants
Aftereffects confirm reports by SM practitioners: Reductions in stress and increases in relationship closeness
Opposite effects occurred in the scene that went poorly
SM without sex?
Dance of Souls
Sadomasochism without sex: Pain as a catalyst to transcend the self
Co-authors: Kathryn Klement Ellen Lee James Ambler Sarah Hanson Evelyn Comber
David Wietting Michael Wagner Valerie Burns Bert Cutler Elwood Reid
Participants and methods
67 participants: Southwest Leather Conference (SWLC)
Questionnaires, saliva samples, cognitive tests, behavioral observation
Straight Gay Heteroflex Bisexual Other02468
10121416
SwitchBottomTop
Sexual orientation and BDSM roles
Positive and negative affect
Positive Affect Negative Affect101520253035404550
Pre-DanceDuring-Dance
p = .18
p = .01
Psychological stress
Pre-Dance During-Dance1
1.52
2.53
3.54
4.55
Stressedp = .02
Extremely
Not at all
Physiological stress (cortisol)
Pre-Dance During-Dance0
0.050.1
0.150.2
0.250.3
0.350.4
0.450.5
Cortisol
p = .06
Intimacy
"We"
Relatio
nship
Self/
Other
Ove
rlap
1
3
5
7
Before DanceDuring Dance
p = .85
p = .005
Why are you participating in the Dance?What do you hope to get from the experience?
“It is a wonderful way to exchange energy not just with my owner but with my tribe. It is transcendental & amazing. It is also a great way to release the negative.”
“I find peace, power, and well-being at these events.”
“To participate in high energetic levels and feel the transformation that can occur in myself and others.”
“I have had visions and deep spiritual experiences. Or not. But it's fun anyway.”
“I am in an amazing happy place. Serene yet joyous.”
“Connection through the drums and the tribe and the shared energy that overrides any pain and -opens my heart and mind to a focus beyond the physical.”
“Just very high!!!”
“Pleasantly exhausted”
“I'm very happy and aroused. I feel strong and beautiful.”
Thoughts or feelings during the Dance
“Observed energetic releases of others, saw emotions stir in many; tears, anger, screaming, laughter, pure joy. Many had variety of different experiences. I got to share in all of them, and feel their release.”
“The experience was quite calming. The degree of pain I allowed myself to have physically allowed my hyper-analytic brain to focus/center on the present. With the exception of knitting and crochet, pain this intense is the only way I can truly fall into this state of peace/have a quiet mind.”
After the Dance
Themes
2923 21
17 16 15 14 12 128 7 6 4 3 3 2 2
Frequency of Qualitative Data Codes
Conceptualizing the Dance
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
How SexualHow SMHow Spiritual
p <.001Extremely
Not at all
Altered states of consciousness
Physiological short term changes in the brain caused by SM related activities
The self is sometimes burdensome "The greater the demands in my outside life, the likelier I am to
feel submissive sexually."
Escape from the Self
Baumeister (1988)Wiseman (1996)
Consciousness as a Process
Transient Hypofrontality Hypothesis
Dietrich (2003)
The Stroop Test
Read the word
Green
Red
Blue
Yellow
Name the color
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
Read the word
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Name the color
Green
Red
Yellow
Blue
Altered states in tops?
Flow
Csikszentimihályi (1991)
The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one.
Conditions under which flow happens1. Engagement in activity chosen for its own sake
2. Perceived challenges are high while skill level is also high
3. Clear goals that are regarded important
4. Immediate feedback indicating success at task
5. Highly focused attention
Characteristics of flow state1. Intense concentration on task
2. Deep sense of involvement and merging of action and awareness
3. Sense of control over one’s actions
4. Enjoyment in activity
5. Distorted sense of time
Correlation does not imply causation!
An experiment to test the causal effects of topping and bottoming
Recruited switches willing to be randomly assigned to the top or bottom role
Co-authors: James Ambler Ellen Lee Kathryn Klement Evelyn Comber Sarah Hanson
Bert Cutler Nadine Cutler Tonio Loewald
An experiment to test the causal effects of topping and bottoming
Recruited switches willing to be randomly assigned to the top or bottom role
With generous support from:
Participants 14 participants, 10 women, 4 men
Mean age= 40.86, SD=12.46, Range: 23-64
Sexual Orientation 1 gay/lesbian 10 bisexual/pansexual 3 heterosexual
Race All participants were Caucasian
Participants
BDSM experience (years) M=6.86, SD= 5.07, Range: 1-17
BDSM experience (# scenes) M=386.65, SD= 510.67, Range: 18-1500
Experience with study partner (# scenes) M= 39.64, SD= 79.73, Range: 0-250
Procedure
Informed consentPractice StroopBaseline StroopBaseline saliva
sampleBaseline survey
Pre-scene Stroop Pre-scene saliva
sample Pre-scene survey Scene Post-scene Stroop Post-scene saliva
samples (x3) Post-scene survey
How well did the scene go?
Top Bottom1234567
How well did the scene go?Very Well
Very Poorly
Open-ended thoughts “It went better than I expected since it was
random I did not know how well it would go.” “It was fun and since I had never played with
(#6) before it was nice the variety and different style.”
“Incredibly sensual and sexually charged, less about pain than sensuality and sensation.”
“He got my masochist to come out then fed her pain. I liked it.”
Impact of observation
Top Bottom1
2
3
4
5
6
7Impact of ObservationVery
strongly affected
Not at all affected
Self-other overlap
Baseline Post-scene1
2
3
4
5
6
7Tops and bottoms
How intense was tonight’s scene?
Top Bottom1234567
How intense
What activities were most intense?“the connection between us.” “heavy flogging at end.”“Being bitten on the tender sides of
my stomach and ribs.”“Biting the spot where her heart
chakra is.” “no one thing. It all added up to a
very intense/gratifying scene.”
Sexual, Spiritual, SM
Top Bottom1
1.52
2.53
3.54
4.55
SexualSpiritualSM
Positive affect(excited, determined, attentive, …)
Baseline Pre-scene End of scene
Post-scene20
30
40
50
TopsBottoms
Negative affect(distressed, irritable, nervous, …)
Baseline Pre-scene End of scene
Post-scene10
20
30
40
TopsBottoms
Sexual arousal
Baseline Pre-scene End of scene
Post-scene1
2
3
4
5
TopsBottoms
Stress
Baseline Pre-scene End of scene
Post-scene1
2
3
4
5
TopsBottoms
Cortisol
Basel
ine
Pre-sc
ene
Post-
scene
20 m
in lat
er
40 m
in lat
er0
0.020.040.060.080.1
0.120.140.160.180.2
TopsBottoms
Altered states (Stroop)
Baseline Pre-scene Post-scene0
100
200
300
400
500
600
TopsBottoms
36 items (1-5 plus “not applicable” option)
“I was challenged, but I believed my skills would allow me to meet the challenge”
“I did things correctly without thinking about trying to do so”
“Time seemed to alter (either slowed down or speeded up)”
“I really enjoyed the experience of what I was doing”
Altered states (flow)
Altered states (flow)
Top Bottom1
2
3
4
5Flow
Yoga: 3.85
Sports: 3.68
Exercise: 3.88
Conclusions
Incredible community support for research
Participants volunteered for more intrusion!
SM activities Increase intimacy Decrease stress and negative affect Increase then decrease sexual arousal
and positive affect Facilitate flow
Topping and bottoming causedDifferent perceptions of scenes
Tops: Sexual > Spiritual > SM Bottoms: SM > Sexual > Spiritual
Different perceptions of scene intensity Tops saw scenes as more intense than did
bottomsAltered states
Objective evidence of altered states of consciousness in bottoms
Future directions
For moreinformation:
http://www.niu.edu/user/tj0bjs1/bdsm.html
